Bulgaria’s ruling coalition divided over nomination for central bank governor

Bulgaria’s ruling coalition divided over nomination for central bank governor
/ Bjoertvedt
By Denitsa Koseva in Sofia April 11, 2022

Bulgaria’s four-party ruling coalition is facing its biggest challenge since taking power after two of its members backed rival candidates to become the new central bank governor. 

In March, the ruling coalition nominated two candidates for the post: finance expert Andrey Gyurov, who was proposed by Prime Minister Kiril Petkov’s Change Continues, and Lubomir Karimanski, the head of parliament’s budget committee, who was proposed by There Are Such People (ITN), another of the coalition's members.

Gyurov has since quit the race to head the Bulgarian National Bank, but members of the ruling coalition still refuse to back Karimanski, saying there are questions about his independence. 

The two nominations were seen as a strong signal that the coalition is not united and in recent days tensions and divisions over the issue have been mounting. Although all the parties claim the nomination for central bank governor will not split the coalition, there are still fears it might collapse if ITN does not give up its candidate.

Karimanski was executive director of locally-owned Investbank between 2011 and 2015. Previously, he worked for other local banks.

Change Continues says that holding senior posts in commercial banks in the past makes Karimanski unsuitable as he might not be independent, Dnevnik news outlet reported on April 11. There are also rumours that ITN’s candidate was involved in a bank fraud case while at Investbank.

According to article of Capital news outlet, in August 2015, Investbank transferred around BGN1.2mn to local individual Vassil Kolev who was appointed as manager of the DIG-94 company for one day. The transfer of the sum was approved by Karimanski, according to Capital.

Meanwhile, the company’s true owner – Yovcho Kyossev -– filed a claim with the police, insisting there was a fraud and that Vassil Kolev was not an owner. Kolev’s name was erased as owner of the company. The prosecution is still investigating the case.

Like Change Continues, the other two members of the ruling coalition — the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP) and Democratic Bulgaria — say they will not back Karimanski’s nomination. The BSP said that the nomination is splitting the ruling coalition.

When announcing his decision to give up the race, Gyurov said that his candidacy should not pose a risk to the coalition’s stability. Gyurov also called on ITN to give up its nomination, warning that should Karimanski be appointed with the backing of the opposition Gerb and the Movement for Rights and Freedoms (DPS), this would mean that a new majority has been formed in parliament.

ITN’s deputy leader Toshko Yordanov said that the party nominated Karimanski for head of the central bank two parliaments ago and had informed the other three coalition members of that during the coalition talks.

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